The post about the Red Cross quilt made me remember this story from my knitting instructor:

Instructor leads a group of volunteers to knit squares for "Warm Up America." Instructor and others in the group will sometimes knit up to 25 coordinated squares to make 1 afghan, other times, it is a collection of random colors/styles/yarns grouped together. All the resulting afghans were being donated to an abused women and children's shelter in the county. That ended when she saw one of the coordinated afghans decorating the wall of the shelter director's office. The afghans are now donated elsewhere.

Wasn't there also a story on this forum about someone who made beautiful afghans to donate to charity, and discovered that the person in charge of delivering collected donations to the charity had taken all the lovely afghans to decorate her house? I remember being horrified and angered by that!

So I am currently in the hospital and bored out of my mind. Thankfully I have EHell and some socks I am working on. Even though I do have associated pain with my craft work, I try to not let that stop me. With the pain meds for other reasons I am able to work quite steadily knitting up these socks.

Now my nurse and I have been talking and I guess word got around about me doing some knitting. I have met other knitters because of this. And I met a Mooch. She was trying to get me to give me the socks I was knitting, because in her words, I could make more easily. This was a nurse, not mine thankfully. I couldn't help but laugh and tell her no, that it would not be possible. BTW, these socks are for my Mom and are costing me at min $15 in materials. A lot for some one who doesn't have a steady income.

On a slightly related note, I make hats/baby clothes out of my leftovers so I don't end up with boxes and boxes of remnants. (BTDT) I've found out that the clients at the local food bank are much more thankful for my work than most acquaintances. My friend runs the place so I know how they react.

There are lots of people who think that I'm just a hat machine and had the materials anyway. But the food bank clients understand that the items are special. The hand-knit items are so much more popular than the mass-produced ones.

I'm thankful my friend would never raid the stash, but then she knows I'll knit for her.

On a slightly related note, I make hats/baby clothes out of my leftovers so I don't end up with boxes and boxes of remnants. (BTDT) I've found out that the clients at the local food bank are much more thankful for my work than most acquaintances. My friend runs the place so I know how they react.

There are lots of people who think that I'm just a hat machine and had the materials anyway. But the food bank clients understand that the items are special. The hand-knit items are so much more popular than the mass-produced ones.

I'm thankful my friend would never raid the stash, but then she knows I'll knit for her.

I think the difference is, when you're in a situation where you're relying on the food bank, you don't get a whole lot of choice in your life. You're reliant on other people to decide which food you're given, your clothes are chosen from whatever fits at the cheapest thrift stores, and even things like where you live and how many people you live with are aspects of your life you have no power to change because you don't have the money to move if you don't like where you are. Everything you own or use is mass-produced, usually cheap quality, and you don't have the cash to go treat yourself every once in a while just to get away from the feeling of being second-hand. Those hand-made hats and clothes are probably a real high point in those parents' lives, because they may very well be the only one-of-a-kind *made just for them* items at that time in their lives. Everyone wants the best for their children, and it's very, very hard to not have the power to even decide what to skimp and what to splurge on.

Iím getting hung up on why you would make someone who has events that you're not allowed to attend a quilt.

But after that conversation, I certainly wouldn't be baking, sewing, or buying for her ever again.

I was thinking the exact same thing.

Reminds me of the time I made sweat suits for two of my brothers for Christmas. They were the same size, but one was over 6 feet tall, and the other, just over 5 feet. One brother only said, 'The waistband is too big', and the other brother said, 'Black and red? Again?'That was the last time I sewed for either of them.

I used to bake a lot years ago, but I usually didn't eat what I made (too much product) so I would give them to a friend so he could share them with his coworkers. I once commented on being happy to bake new things and have someone to give them to, and Friend said, "Gee, it must be nice to use my coworkers as guinea pigs" (my baking was perfectly fine). I looked at him and said rather evenly, "If you feel that way, then I won't bother making things anymore that you could give to them." I never gave Friend baked goods again (I kept baking; I just gave my baked goods to other people). Friend did still get to partake of my cooking and baking over the next few years but never received any batches of anything from me again.

Another time, Friend asked me to design a website for him. I told him I didn't feel like it. Friend then said, "Gee, for someone who wants to do this for a living, I'd think you'd jump on the chance to do this." Again, I looked at him and said in an even tone, "You're right; I DO want to do this for a living. If you want me to design a website for you, then you need to pay me." Friend just gave me a look. Never heard about it again.

I haven't seen "Friend" in almost three years (the last straw was when he got pissed at me because he thought I should hold him as more important than then-DF).

Sadly, I'd have to agree. I spent ten years thinking that this middle-aged man (then in his 30s but now in his 40s) was going to grow up, but I realized, about six years ago, that that wasn't going to happen (he is the epitome of Special Snowflake). Oh, well!

I've recently taken up knitting and am getting good enough to knit for others. Fortunately I haven't met any moochers yet Well, my nieblings are constantly asking me to knit stuff for them, but they're either satisfied with things I can make out of scrap yarn or my sister pays for the yarn. Besides, they are SO appreciative of everything I make that I pretty much jump at the chance to knit them something. I'm vain like that (seriously, my oldest niece loved the fingerless mittens I made her she even wore them at my other sister's wedding, and my nephew loved the hat so much he asked me to make it bigger when he outgrew it! That's the way to an auntie's heart )

I did find the timing amusing though, when I woke up this morning to a comment on a post I'd made comparing knitting to reading, saying "But do you take knitting requests? THAT is the real question?" (She's a close friend, so from her I do, but I still laughed at the timing ).

My sister is a social worker. I have a background with horses, although currently do not own due to the expense and the lack of boarding facilities in the area.

A couple years ago, my sister visited a therapeutic riding center and thought that it was brilliant. She now has it in her "dream" head that she will someday open one, and that I will live on the property and be the farm's caretaker. Um. If I had wanted to be a professional in the horse world, you can bet your bottom that I would not have gotten a degree at a non-equestrian-centric college and an office job after that. Nor am I interested in quitting said job to become a professional groom that will undoubtedly offer great deals of mental stress, physical strain, low pay, and no health insurance. Did I mention that my sister would be my boss?

Luckily I know that even if she did proceed, the hoops she would need to jump through would put her off immediately. Never mind who is going to fund the building operation (we live in the north where it snows 6-8 months of the year, so would need a ~$60,000+ indoor arena), pay for the insurance which I'm sure is through the roof expensive since you're dealing with people who require therapy AND large animals, the therapy-safe horses that are worth their weight in gold (and cost it), the equipment, etc.

I actually have the opposite problem re: pricing. DD's daycare does an annual bake sale which I always bake for. The last time, I took a half day off of work and made homemade donuts that I delivered to the sale while still hot. The problem is that the daycare director always prices my things too high. I try not to think about how much it costs me to make everything (I know I spend more than the items bring) but it's fun for me to bake for more than me, DH, and DD, and I like to make everything nice so try package things as nice as possible as well (no paper plates inside Ziploc bags here!)

The director likes that and thinks the price should reflect that--which, if this was a big $$$ affair, I'd agree, but we live in a small town with lots of thrifty people who don't *really* care if the cake is from a box instead of from organic ingredients (and yes, I'm generalizing a bit, but that often does seem to be the case. Plus, people don't really know if it's from a box or not unless they know it's something I specifically made, since I don't write HOMEMADE CAKE NOT FROM A BOX" on my baked goods.) So the day after I often see my pretty baked items at the daycare slowly being marked down until they're either too old and have to be tossed, or are sold at a reduced price but are now 2-3 days older than they were before.

We just had a houseguest who told me his favourite "it's not like it's work" story:

Stan is a sailor, and has owned a few sailboats over the years. A boat or two ago he had a "girlfriend" who asked to go sailing with him. Maybe even the whole weekend. He agreed, and spent a good bit of time getting the boat ready. She called a little later and said she was so excited, she told a couple of friends about the sailing trip and she was sure he love to meet them! They'd do an afternoon to dinner cruise, then drop them off and could continue on. Okay not what he was expecting, but he could deal.

Then she called and said they'd been talking and they'd love to spend the night on a sailboat! Stan's a chill guy, but not that chill. He suggested they take a day sail first, and see how it goes.

She didn't pass on the message. She arrived at the dock with her friends and all their luggage.

It was a 22 foot sailboat with no head. The "guests" were NOT happy. It didn't end well.

The most asked for is my potato salad (my sister swears I must put crack in it because it is addictive!) .

Would you consider posting the recipe in the Recipe Requests folder, or is it a Secret Weapon :-) ? I love potato salad but have never found a good recipe to make my own.

To be honest, I really have never used a recipe. I just decided to make it about 15 years ago, and voila. Basically, I peel the potatos, boil them, drain them, then put them in the fridge overnight- they are easier to work with and it doesn't get watery. I put in diced (small) cucumbers, onions, and hard boiled eggs (I use 3 large cukes and 1 1/2 onions, and a dozen eggs per 10 lbs), mix with salad dressing instead of mayo (and any brand will do) mixed with yellow mustard. I start with small amounts of the dressing and add a bit more until it is all mixed but not over dressed (I am not a mayonnaise or mayo like product fan so I tend to make sure while it is there, it is not too much). Top with sliced hard boiled eggs and paprika.

Your recipe sounds pretty much like mine. I use sweet relish instead of cucumbers in mine. You have given me an excellent idea for the next time I make potato salad.

My family also requests my potato salad whenever we have a gathering. I keep telling them that I know how to cook other thing but they want potato salad.

We just had a houseguest who told me his favourite "it's not like it's work" story:

Stan is a sailor, and has owned a few sailboats over the years. A boat or two ago he had a "girlfriend" who asked to go sailing with him. Maybe even the whole weekend. He agreed, and spent a good bit of time getting the boat ready. She called a little later and said she was so excited, she told a couple of friends about the sailing trip and she was sure he love to meet them! They'd do an afternoon to dinner cruise, then drop them off and could continue on. Okay not what he was expecting, but he could deal.

Then she called and said they'd been talking and they'd love to spend the night on a sailboat! Stan's a chill guy, but not that chill. He suggested they take a day sail first, and see how it goes.

She didn't pass on the message. She arrived at the dock with her friends and all their luggage.

It was a 22 foot sailboat with no head. The "guests" were NOT happy. It didn't end well.

Am I evil thinking the GF and her friends thought Stan would do all the work, and they could just enjoy the sailing at their leisure. hehehe